A conversation
by Carbon65
Summary: The boys go out for food after Beth.


Artie Abrams held tight to the door handle of the El Camino as the car screeched out of the parking lot. He was glad that Puck had included him in this little adventure, and he appreciated the offer to drive, but he sure as hell wasn't going to ride with a Puckerman again.

The truth was that Artie Abrams was a little afraid of cars. It wasn't the obvious reason, because of his accident. The truth was that he worried driving a car would be like riding a horse. It would be big, and strong, and have a mind of its own. And, Artie wasn't sure he was ready to surrender that kind of control over to an inanimate object. He knew the fear was silly, so he said nothing.

The car squealed into the parking lot of pie place. It was the kind of twenty four hour chain where the food was plentiful and cheap, but not necessarily good. Puck pulled into a handicap spot, and fished in the glove box, producing an expired handicapped tag. "My Nana's," he explained. "This used to be her car."

They sat at a back booth, because there was no way the four football players would fit into a regular, skinny one. Artie sort of hatred booths, but he didn't say anything.

"God, I'm so glad we don't have to wear that Kiss Makeup again," Mike Chang said after the requisite silent menu reading. It was the first time Artie thought he had heard Mike Chang speak, beyond his announcement that he liked to "Pop'n'Lock". Mike knew about taking off makeup, but that hadn't made it easy. He had acted in elementary school, before it got to be too uncool. The one thing worse than being mocked for being the only Asian child in the Sound of Music was being mocked for wearing eyeliner in fourth grade.

"I know!" Finn scratched his still white ear. "My mom finally gave me some stuff. It sort of worked." He shrugged. Actually, he had taken one of Kurt's moist towelettes after the younger boy had gone into shower and moisturize. It had taken three dirty squares before Finn's face was no longer gray. He hid them in the kitchen trash, once he was done. He didn't want Kurt seeing them. He knew the gay boy had a crush on him, and was doing his best to discourage it.

"You might have spoken too soon," Matt Rutherford reminded Mike. "We should wear them to Glee, tomorrow." The girls and Kurt had been wearing their Gaga outfits all week. He noticed how tall the shoes Kurt wore made the smaller boy, and how the silver accented his skin. Matt was happy singing Kiss, but that didn't mean he couldn't notice Kurt… He wondered if Kurt would notice him, if he wore the leather KISS pants to school without all the make up.

"What do you think of the name?" Puck asked, more quietly than anyone had ever heard him. Puck was afraid the others would judge him. He wanted so badly to be there for Quinn when Beth was born. His father had been a Lima Looser, and abandoned him and his mom and his sister. He wasn't sure he could abandon his little girl.

He could be a good dad, if Quinn would just give him a chance. He couldn't say that to her, though. Quinn would think he was a loser. And, for Noah Puckerman, being a loser was more frightening. It was worse than spiders, which still made him scream like a little girl, or the thought of his sister getting pregnant (ironically).

Artie wasn't sure what to say. He thought Beth was a little common place a name. The offspring of a Quinn and a Puck should be something like Tatiana or Zazadu, not Beth. He couldn't tell Puck, that, though. They weren't close enough friends, for one. Artie was still careful about Puck. He could turn, at any time, and go back to taunting the smaller boy. He made up his mind, and shrugged. "I agree with Quinn, it's better than Jackie Daniels."

"I wanted to name the baby Drizzle." Finn admitted. He still though Drizzle was a good name. It was the most peaceful weather pattern, like kisses on your skin. Finn liked things peaceful and simple. His life had never been simple. It confused him. He had loved the baby, and been ready to give everything up for Quinn. Why couldn't this little person be named after something so gentle?

"Drizzle is kind of a stupid name," Mike observed. "I mean, think about how badly the kid would get teased. She would be Drizzle, Noah's daughter. Like Noah and the Ark." Mike remember how Puck had gotten teased when they were children. He had liked to line up the plastic dinosaurs in fighting configurations. But, he only had two hands, so the dinosaurs would move two by two.

In third grade, Mr. Puckerman had disappeared, and so did Noah. Puck didn't play with plastic dinosaurs, and beat up anyone who tried to call him anything else. Mike sometimes missed Noah and the dinosaurs.

Finn shrugged. "Maybe, but I was trying."

The waitress came to get their drink orders.


End file.
